If I might add a couple things to what you said: The founders of AfD did fine to get their party’s foot in the door. That was two generations of leadership ago. The movement has been growing like topsy; and, developing a life of its own. I love the egg-head Euro position of the original AfD. But that position is not what propelled AfD into double-digits. Here’s the issue:
AfD is affirming that there’s something good about Germany (and northern Europe in general), whereas the other parties come across as apologetic.
In Germany, it is expected that everyone incorporates work, family life, and outdoor activities into a well-balanced and wholesome life. People are committed to honesty and treating each other with courtesy. It is a country that balances its national budget, where the unemployment rate is low, and where social insurance works.
Now, there is an invasion of people who do not embrace these values, who don’t speak the language, who don’t work regularly, who are involved in drug trafficking and human trafficking and in sexual assault against females and boys. And the major parties are too ashamed of their country’s history to defend the country against this assault, and too beholden to the big corporations that rely on cheap immigrant labor.
This is what AfD taps into, and the elites call it extremism.
Alice Weidel Speech on AfD She's a most unlikely looking/sounding neo-Nazi, I think her detractors have every reason to be afraid of her rising popularity. There's a refreshing directness about Alice. Her star is in the ascendant.